Free WordPress Course Coming to YouTube Soon

Add WriterSanctuary as a preferred source while searching!

Doing so will increase how often you see WriterSanctuary in the results when searching writing, blogging, and self-publishing information.

As I dabble with the idea of creating courses, I’ve decided to publish a few for free on YouTube. Essentially, they’re video playlists covering a specific topic, and I’m not sure how they differ from an actual playlist on the platform. Anyway, I am putting together a free course for WordPress in the coming weeks.

I’m currently working on a free course on how to use Reedsy Studio. This is a 9-part series that covers all of the functions of the free and paid version of the tool. Once it’s completed, though, I’ll move on to making the free WordPress course.

If the videos and courses perform well, I might make several of them covering everything I know about writing in all forms.

Table of Contents

What’s In the Free WordPress Course?

There is a lot to unpack when it comes to WordPress. There are many channels dedicated to showing you everything you can do with the platform, regardless of skill level. In my case, I wanted to create a series of videos to cover the most basic aspects to help new users understand how it works.

Essentially, I want my 68-year-old father to follow along so he can work on his art blog. It’s a bit self-serving, as he would be less likely to call me up for help if I already have a video covering the topic.

The Basics of the Dashboard

The free course will cover the basics of the WordPress dashboard. This is the first screen you see when logging into your website. I’ll go over all of the functions and screen options you can use to customize the appearance.

By the end, you should have a firm understanding of what you can do in the dashboard and why it’s an important part of managing a blog.

Default Functions in WordPress

By default, WordPress comes with several functions and tools. I plan on making a separate video regarding each one of those functions and tools to help you build and maintain the site.

Some videos might be shorter than others because of the function itself. For instance, understanding how the media folder works will take far less time than going over all of the settings for your blog.

Creating the First Post

Lastly, I’ll show you how I create posts, which includes outlining, adding links, inserting images, and all of the steps to publish a short blog post. I have a video or two about creating a blog post already, but this will be an updated version for WordPress 7, which came out in May of 2026.

This will be from the perspective of the default block editor in WordPress without various plugins.

Will There Be Members-Only Courses Coming?

Since I can create members-only playlists and courses, I thought creating a few of them on YouTube would be a nice addition for channel members. They will be more in-depth than the free courses that I’m offering.

The trick is to create special members-only content that is more detailed than what I already upload. After all, the whole point of creating WriterSanctuary was to share everything I’ve ever learned about writing in every form.

The more classes I take in college, the more ideas I get for special content, however. Perhaps I’ll leave it up to a vote on the channel for what topics and courses members would like to see. In any case, the members-only videos are very much on my to-do list.

If you have an idea of something you’d like to see as a video, feel free to leave a comment.

Are There Courses Planned Outside of YouTube?

I’ve been on the fence about creating courses for quite some time. I’ve been asked quite often about creating them, and I think I’d do a pretty good job at teaching certain topics. The only thing that was really holding me back was the lack of time.

As I pivot from freelancing (thanks to generative AI), some of the other things are starting to bubble to the surface, including setting up writing courses of all kinds.

I started with free YouTube courses because they were the easiest to set up. I still don’t know if they will perform better than a regular playlist, but I figured I’d give it a go, especially since I’ve decided to focus on becoming a professor when I grow up.

I’ve toyed a bit with WordPress plugins for courses, and looked a bit into setting some up at Udemy. I just need to sit down and come up with a solid curriculum that is worth the money I’ll be asking.

There are a lot of different paths you can take when it comes to teaching online. From complete Learning Management Systems to playlists on YouTube, it all comes down to which method will work the best for your needs.

I suppose there’s nothing wrong with branching out and having different courses on various platforms. Why not put a course on all of them?

Free Courses Are Only the Beginning…

I’m still hammering out topics and course materials for the free videos on YouTube. The only one I currently have planned out is the course for Reedsy Studio. But so far, the individual videos for that course are performing better than the channel average. So, they’re worth making regardless of whether they’re in a course or not.

Eventually, I’ll have some in-depth courses to offer. It may take a bit of time as I move to going full-time at the university. However, I’m sure that I can build something that someone will benefit from attending.

For now, I’ll start with the free courses on YouTube and list them for everyone’s convenience. Who knows? Maybe setting up the courses will bring in enough money to pay for the rest of my education. The plan is to have two PhDs by the time I’m done, and that’s not going to be cheap.

Follow Me...

Michael Brockbank

Michael has been a freelance writer since January of 2012 and has contributed to a long list of blogs throughout his career. He is also a published author and continues to help other writers find their own paths. Maintaining both the WriterSanctuary blog and YouTube channel, he covers topics that relate to writing in all forms.